Ewa Babkiewicz

University of Warsaw | UW · Hydrobiology

The primary drivers of the thermal sensitivity of ectothermic organisms' task performance remain uncertain, with the potential for changes in mobility, cognitive ability, or the interaction between these factors to be considered. Similarly, it is unclear whether the relationship between these processes varies with experience or task difficulty. The...

Previous research has shown that elevated temperature and environmental hypoxia are associated with a reduced representation of larger-bodied species in ectotherm communities, suggesting their competitive disadvantage resulting from increased oxygen demands and limited oxygen availability. To investigate this, we conducted a comparative analysis of...

Male sexual dysfunction is considered one of the major consequences of diabetes mellitus. The medicinal plant, Mimosa pudica Linn. is believed to have numerous therapeutic effects, including anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, aphrodisiac, and a sexual behaviour-enhancing properties. In the present study, the significant effect of ethanolic extract of M....

Targeted delivery via surface receptors can significantly improve the therapeutic efficacy and reduce adverse drug reactions. The protein nanocarrier system offers many advantages, including encapsulation in various drugs and molecules and prolonged circulation. Here, the folate receptor-targeted folic acid-conjugated retinoic acid-loaded glutenin...

Targeted delivery via surface receptors can significantly improve the therapeutic efficacy and reduce the adverse drug reactions. The protein nanocarrier system offers many advantages, such as encapsulation in various drugs and molecules and prolonged circulation. Here, the folate receptor-targeted folic acid-conjugated retinoic acid-loaded gluteni...

Streptococcus mutans, a gram-positive oral pathogen, is the primary causative agent of dental caries. Biofilm formation, a critical characteristic of S. mutans, is regulated by quorum sensing (QS). This study aimed to utilize pharmacoinformatics techniques to screen and identify effective phytochemicals that can target specific proteins involved in...

The temperature–size rule (TSR) has been consistently observed in numerous studies, showing that ectotherms reared at higher temperatures experience accelerated growth during the juvenile stage and ultimately reach smaller sizes and younger ages at maturity. One explanation for this response is that it occurs when the effect of temperature on morta...

The present study investigated the antioxidant potential of aqueous methanolic extracts of Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R.Br., followed by a pharmacoinformatics-based screening of novel Keap1 protein inhibitors. Initially, the antioxidant potential of this plant extract was assessed via antioxidant assays (DPPH, ABTS radical scavenging, and FRAP). Furth...

Numerous studies have analyzed the distribution and concentration of microplastic particles (MPs) in various aquatic habitats, and estimated how they affect residual biota. Decidedly less research concerns how organisms (e.g. ichthyofauna) affect the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of MPs in the water. Therefore, the aim of our study w...

Very few studies have investigated the influence of fish on the degradation rate of microplastic particles (MPs). It could be expected that their effect might be not only direct, through digestion and passage through the gut, but also indirect, through the alteration of the density and composition of the bacterial community on the surface of MPs. T...

Plastics consist of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic compounds, usually polymers with a high molecular mass (e.g. polyethylene – PE, polyvinyl chloride – PVC, polystyrene – PS, polyhydroxybutyrate – PHB, polylactic acid – PLA, polyethylene terephthalate – PET, polyacrylonitrile – PAN, and poly(methyl methacrylate) – PMMA). For ma...

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of disease burden globally. Sleep and cardiovascular connection represent a two-way lane. Recently, many reports have suggested that meditation practices have a beneficial effect on cardiovascular diseases. But the exact mechanism was not known. Several reports suggest that meditation induces the secret...

Endophytic fungi are a diverse group of microorganisms that colonize the inter- or intracellular spaces of plants and exhibit mutual benefits. Their interactions with the host plant and other microbiomes are multidimensional and play a crucial role in the production of secondary metabolites. We screened bioactive compounds present in the extracts o...

Endophytic fungi are a diverse group of microorganisms that colonize the inter- or intracellular spaces of plants for mutual benefits. The interactions with a host plant and other microbiomes are multidimensional and play a crucial role in the production of secondary metabolites. We screened bioactive compounds present in the extracts of Aspergillu...

Nanoplastics (NPs) pollution is an issue of special concerns due to their presence in the environment and unique features especially those related to their size, that include: (i) colloidal properties, (ii) the ability to penetrate cell membranes and cumulate in organisms, (iii) high surface area to volume ratio resulting in high ability to absorb...

The effect of nanoplastics (NPs) has been shown to interact with the effect of pollutants, including antibiotics. However, little is known about studies performed on freshwater organisms. In this study, we aimed to test the hypothesis that both NPs and antibiotics affect the life history traits of freshwater planktonic Daphnia magna, a model organi...

Numerous studies have revealed a negative correlation between the body size and temperature among a variety of aquatic ectotherms. Many studies at individual and population levels indicated that this mechanism may be explained by the decrease of competitive abilities of larger- over smaller-bodied individuals, as the production of larger-bodied ind...

Numerous studies have revealed that artificial light at night alters the natural patterns of light in space and time and may have various ecological impacts at different ecological levels. However, only a few studies have assessed its effect on interactions between organisms in aquatic environments, including predator–prey interactions in lakes. To...

Microplastic pollution is currently one of the most intensely studied ecological issues. Numerous studies have estimated the distribution and concentration of microplastics in various environments and determine how they affect their inhabitants. Much less effort has been place on assessing the possible effects of microplastics on interactions betwe...

The current study focuses on developing a tumour-targeted functionalised nanocarrier that wraps hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles. The guanidine carbonate and curcumin are immobilised on the surface of 3-aminopropyl-triethoxy silane (APTES)-decorated hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNP), as confirmed through XPS and NMR analysis. XPS...

Hematological malignancies are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms in the blood characterized by dysregulated hematopoiesis and classified as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. The occurrence and progression of hematological malignancies depend on transformed hematopoietic stem cells, which refract to chemotherapy and often cause relapse. In recent ye...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause acute and severe infections. Increasing resistance to antibiotics has given rise to the urgent need for an alternative an-timicrobial agent. A promising strategy is the inhibition of iron sequestration in the bacteria. The current work aimed to screen for inhibitors of pyoverdine-me...

Plants and their derived molecules have been traditionally used to manage numerous pathological complications, including male erectile dysfunction (ED). Mimosa pudica Linn. commonly referred to as the touch-me-not plant, and its extract are important sources of new lead molecules in drug discovery research. The main goal of this study was to predic...

Numerous studies have demonstrated an inverse correlation between ambient temperature and body size in various ectotherms. This pattern could be explained by the greater temperature effect on the predator’s foraging rate and, in turn, on the mortality rate in comparison to the birth rate in prey populations. While a number of studies have revealed...

The main aims in the development of a novel drug delivery vehicle is to efficiently carry therapeutic drugs in the body's circulatory system and successfully deliver them to the targeted site as needed to safely achieve the desired therapeutic effect. In the present study, a passive targeted functionalised nanocarrier was fabricated or wrapped the...

Temperature has a wide range of effects on the biology and ecology of ectotherms, including fish. However, the literature provides only a few studies assessing its effect on their cognitive abilities. We tested the effect of temperature on the spatial learning rate of zebrafish by comparing the daily rate of change in the number of fish choosing th...

It is well known that artificial light at night alters the natural patterns of light in space and time, which interrupts a variety of physiological processes of individuals, altering their life history and behavioral adjustments. However, much less is known about the effect of artificial light at night on their fitness. We tested the hypothesis tha...

Lower doses of capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) have a potential to serve as an anticancer drug, however, due to its pungency, irritant effect, poor water solubility and high distribution volume often linked to various off-target effects, its therapeutic use is limited. This study aimed to determine the biodistribution and anticancer ef...

Numerous studies have indicated that temperature improves the visual capabilities of different ectotherms, including a variety of fish species. However, none of these studies has directly tested whether elevated temperature extends the visual detection distance-the distance from which a visual stimulus is detected. To test this hypothesis, we inves...

Targeted drug delivery systems are promising field of research. Nano-engineered material-mediated drug delivery possess remarkable potential for the treatment of various malignancies. Here, a folic acid (FA) conjugated bovine serum albumin (BSA) nanoparticles (NPs) were used to encapsulate myricetin (Myr). Subsequently, the delivery of Myr via natu...

Numerous studies have tested the combined effect of the threat of predation by fish and low oxygen concentrations on the phenotypic plasticity of Daphnia . These studies assessed the trade‐off between minimising predation risk and the negative effects of oxygen deficiencies in the context of depth selection behaviour. We tested whether this trade‐o...

Increased temperature in the epilimnion and hypoxia in the metalimnion of a lake would result in an increase of positive-size-selective fish predation on zooplankton and in turn in a decrease of body size in zooplankton populations and communities. We tested this hypothesis in four types of experiments with juvenile rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmu...

Purpose Site specific and toxic free drug delivery is an interesting area of research. Nano-engineered drug delivery systems possess remarkable potential for effective treatment of various types of cancers. Methods In this view, a novel Folic Acid (FA) conjugated keratin nanoparticles (NPs) were assembled with encapsulation and delivery of Rutin (...

The vertical distribution of planktonic animals, such as Daphnia, in overlapping gradients of food concentration and risk of visual predation should depend on Daphnia population density and should be the result of the group effect of optimizing decisions taken by each individual (juvenile or adult), trading-off a high growth rate to low mortality r...

Artificial light at night may affect mortality risk in prey from visually oriented predators because the effect of the artificial light spectrum may differ for a predator’s visual prey detection and for prey evasiveness. To test this, we conducted two types of experiment. First, we assessed the reaction distance and swimming speed of juvenile rudd...

Improved vision due to the cranial endothermy known in large-bodied marine fishes suggests that increased water temperature alone might also increase the speed with which visual information can be processed and therefore improve the vision of small planktivorous fish without invoking endothermic heating. We check this for two freshwater species by...

Poster for underwater light conditions theme

Heterogeneity in prey distribution allows for higher food intake and variability among planktivorous fish Predator-harvesters, such as planktivorous fish, should forage within patches of prey to maximize its fitness by ensuring net food intake above the anticipated average over the entire habitat. Thus, feeding on patchy distribution of planktonic...

Interference Ideal Free Distribution (IIFD) of Daphnia in gradients of resources and predation risk Each animal should select a place to live where the combination of ambient conditions offers the highest fitness gain. In case of planktonic animals such as Daphnia, vertical distribution of individuals in a population should be the effect of optimiz...